Workshops offer clarity on Kakaako

The University of Hawaii and the local chapter of the American Planning Association want to engage and educate the public on issues surrounding development in Kakaako through a series of free workshops that will double as student coursework.

The workshops, described as “a free urban planning academy for everyone,” will be held on six consecutive Tuesdays from 6 to 8 p.m. starting Oct. 13.

Organizers said the general public will learn about urban-planning ideas and tools that will help make a difference in how Kakaako, a section of Honolulu largely slated for dense high-rise development, evolves.

UH professors and government officials will be among speakers leading the workshops. Students from a UH Department of Urban and Regional Planning course will facilitate small-group discussions.

“It’s project-based learning for the class, and a way to share planning issues with the wider community,” said Annie Koh, a doctorate degree candidate in urban and regional planning at UH.

Anyone interested in or concerned about Kakaako is encouraged to attend.

“We often feel that there is nothing that we can do to change the future of our neighborhood or community,” Karen Umemoto, chairwoman of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, said in a statement announcing the workshops. “We hope the planning academy can bring various interests of this community to see that planning together can make a difference. The new wave of development in Kakaako will have a profound impact on the look and feel of Honolulu given its prime location in the urban core.”

Some areas to be explored include civic engagement, impacts on small businesses, infrastructure, affordable housing and rail system connections. A one-hour trolley tour of Kakaako is also planned.

The Department of Urban and Regional Planning is offering a certificate of completion to anyone who attends four or more of the workshops.

All the workshops will be held in the ground-floor community room at 547 Queen St., the old American Brewery Building, which serves as headquarters of the Hawaii Community Development Authority. HCDA is the state agency with zoning and planning control in Kakaako, and has faced considerable public criticism over some of its planning rules and development permit approvals.